The first recent foray back into the serialized television for CBS has been an undeniable success. Based on the epic bestselling novel by Stephen King, Under the Dome has not only been a ratings superstar for the network, but it’s also gained a massive legion of dedicated fans picking apart every single episode for another clue to the what’s really happening inside that mysterious dome. With Steven Spielberg, Stephen King, and Brian K. Vaughn on set, Executive Producer Neal Baer has one of television’s dream teams at the helm, which has certainly helped to make Under the Dome a monster hit. Parade sat down with Baer to discuss the upcoming Blu-ray and DVD release of season one (in stores November 5), secrets of season two, and how they already have their series ending in mind.

There are a lot of mystery and sci-fi elements to Under the Dome. Do you worry about how much mystery, or how many questions, to give the audience?No, I think that we try to always answer some mysteries in each episode and then establish new ones so that there’s a constant flow of new things happening and old things being answered. That way it’s satisfying and tantalizing.

Do you already have an ending in mind?We do have an ending in mind, which is nice. Thinking about that, we’re able to devise all kinds of mysteries that will lead to the final mystery.

One of the few issues that some people had with Stephen King’s book was the ending. Does having the ability to extend the series beyond the world of the novel allow you to tackle it in a different way?Absolutely, and we never were slavishly adapting the book. It is liberating to have the great foundation that the book provides and then move beyond that to create new stories. The book itself is only about a week in length so, in order to make our show a longer-term story, we’ve had to diverge from the book.

At the end of season one, there are a few unanswered questions dangling. How do you balance how many answers to give your audience at the end of the season while still making them come back for more in season two?I don’t think there’s any formula, per se. You want to give the audience some satisfaction, so we answered what was behind this big mystery of the dome, but still we ended with some questions about what’s going to happen to Barbie.

Just like in any Stephen King story, you have a lot of characters to deal with. Was there one character that you, in casting, that you felt you just had to get right?I just feel that every single character is important, so we really spent a lot of time on every single one. We always thought of Rachelle [Lefevre] as Julia because I had worked with her on A Gifted Man, but we went through all kinds of discussions for all the other characters. When Alex Koch was cast as Junior, he had never auditioned before. He had just come out of college in the theater program. That never happens. We brought him to the network three times.

I think Rachelle is great in that part and, between Under the Dome and Hannibal, you’re bringing redheads back to the small screen.[Laughs] Yes! She had blonde hair on A Gifted Man only because Jennifer Ehle had red hair. She really is a redhead so she said, “I’m not going to dye my hair blonde again!” I told her, “No, no, no. You don’t have to.” [Laughs]

Do you think Dean Norris felt excited to play a character so against what people know of him from Breaking Bad?Oh, he loved it. He really adores that character. And what we like about it is that he’s not just an evil guy. He also loves his son. He loves his community. He really wants the people to succeed in living under the dome, but he’s also a kind of megalomaniac. An egomaniac too, so his best intentions get away from him.

How does the balance of power play out behind the scenes with you, Stephen King, Steven Spielberg, and Brian K. Vaughn, and how involved are those guys in the day to day?Brian and I are in the trenches and the two Stephens are there for support, so they see everything. They read everything. They see all the cuts, but they’re not involved in the day to day. They couldn’t be because Stephen King is writing novels still (he just released Doctor Sleep) and Steven Spielberg is directing movies. So they’re there as really great sounding boards for us.

In one of the Blu-ray special features, Brian mentions that you asked all the potential writers, “What would you do if your town was suddenly sealed off by this impenetrable dome?” So now I ask you: What would Neal Baer do?Well, I’m certainly more prepared now than I was! [Laughs] We have some writers who are expert survivalists so I know all the gizmos and gadgets. What would I do? I’m a physician so I’d probably be out there trying to take care of people who were cut in half by the dome or injured in some way. That’s probably the first thing I would do because I always turn to my medical roots. I hope I’d be out there trying to do what I could using those skills that I have.

What kind of hints, however small, can you give us about what’s to come in season two when the show returns in June?Some new characters, certainly. They’re going to turn things upside down. We’ll find out where they were, because it’s only been two weeks since the dome came down. And we’ll maybe meet someone that’s related to Junior and Big Jim.

Do you have a favorite memory, on screen or off, from working on Under the Dome so far?I think my favorite memory is seeing the cut of episode seven. Watching the whole episode and going, “Oh my gosh. That is really, really powerful.” That took me through so many emotions and so many feelings that it was almost like I was just an audience member. I was so separated from having done it that I was able to watch it for the first time, and it really hit me like, “Wow. This is intense! This is sad! This is moving! This is really, really great.” That’s my favorite moment. My second favorite is in episode five when the bomb hits and Norrie and Joe are kissing and the music is playing Skeeter Davis’s “End of the World.” I love that. I was on YouTube when that happened and people were commenting on the video of her singing the song from 1965 and saying, “The dome brought me here. The dome brought me here.” That was really gratifying.

AMG/Parade Digital

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